Announcing the First Annual NOLYB Awards

One of my favorite things to yammer on about with my friends (most of whom are also musicians) when we're not pondering the great mysteries of existence, or just acting goofy, is our favorite albums. For years, I've read “year-end best of” lists from several friends online, and I mostly ignore the lists generated by the well-known websites. Simply put, I just don't care what most of “the pros” have to say, I'd rather hear it from my friends.

It won't be much longer before we start seeing all these lists again, in fact, some sites are already talking about the albums of the year, ignoring the fact that there's still music on the way this year that we haven't heard. Not being one to miss out on an opportunity to nerd out over music, I've decided that NOLYB will also be getting on the “best of 2014” bandwagon.

The NOLYB awards will be decided entirely by the votes of music fans with the final say-so by yours truly, Hideous. I will hold “veto power” in case someone decides to be clever and have Grandma and the rest of their entire family vote for them, or if there is any other kind of suspicious activity in the voting process. I'm gonna make sure this thing stays legit, and untainted.

Fans will nominate their favorite artists, and once the voting closes on that, 3-5 artists (more if applicable) will be chosen as nominees for one of the following categories:

Metal Artist of the Year

Hip-Hop Artist of the Year

Rock Artist of the Year (“Rock” is a blanket term here, this is for Punk, Indie, and everything else.)

Best New Artist (Artists with a debut release after December 1st, 2013)

Album of the Year (All genres)

In the event of a tie, the winner will be decided by the NOLYB staff: my co-conspirator, Caleb, and I. The only eligibility requirements are that the artists are currently unsigned/independent, have been played on NOLYB, and released material (Video, Song, Full-Length Album or E.P.) sometime after December, 1st, 2013. Not sure if they've been on NOLYB? Use the handy search function on the website. If nothing else, just nominate someone, I've got to sort through it all anyway.

Basically, as long as you're an active, unsigned/independent band, you could be nominated. Nominations will be accepted starting on October, 28th, 2014. You can nominate an artist in the comments section below this post, by posting on the NOLYB Facebook page, or by getting in touch via twitter: @hideousnolyb

Tell us who you are so the artists will know who to thank! Plus, I want to keep this fair for everyone and make sure no one is creating extra profiles to boost their votes; win or lose, do it with class and respect for your fellow artist. Yes, you can nominate (and vote for) yourself, but I encourage you to shine a spotlight on other artists instead. Let's make this a big ol' love fest, not an ego-boosting competition.

Everyone gets one nomination, and one vote, per category. Just to be extra clear, don't nominate the same band for Best Metal Artist and Best Rock Artist. Yes, there will be actual, physical awards. Voting stops on December, 25th, 2014 at 6pm EST, and winners will be announced on episode 90 of NOLYB on January 3rd, 2015

Have fun, and happy voting!